Many proposals have been made to provide many prior manufactured sub-assemblies for fastening together at the time of assembly of a vehicle. These sub-assemblies are made according to specifications to be secured with other assemblies in the appropriate position in a vehicle. If one assembly is not manufactured correctly or if because of changes in temperature, their dimensions change, then the relative positioning of the elements may not be according to specification. This becomes critical when dealing with parts exposed to the environment. If because of irregularities in dimension, spaces occur between the sub-assemblies, when none should exist, then water may penetrate and damage the sub-assemblies or a burglar may penetrate through the opening and break into the vehicle. Furthermore, their appearance to a purchaser will be unsightly.
In this regard, with reference to the mounting of a handle to a car door for opening and closing the door, if the handle assembly is secured to the car door frame, and then the exterior door panels including an aperture therethrough for providing access to the handle is mounted on the frame, variations in the required dimensions of the components, may expose openings between the handle assembly and exterior door panel. Furthermore, where the exterior door panel comprises a plastics material, with exposure to heat and cold, there may be large fluctuations in the dimensions of the panel (contraction and expansion) exposing a space between the handle assembly and exterior door panel at the aperture provided for access to the handle.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an adjustable escutcheon plate suitable for use to overcome the aforementioned problems to ensure no space is visible when securing the exterior door panel to provide access to the handle through an aperture provided in the exterior door panel.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such adjustable escutcheon plate for being secured to the assembly supporting the handle to permit lateral adjustment of the assembly relative to the plate prior to securing the plate relative to the assembly and permit the escutcheon plate to be secured to the assembly at different positions spaced from the exterior skin to permit the handle to be mounted at a distance of "X" cm. from the exterior door panel in one vehicle, and in another vehicle "3/2X" cm. from the exterior door panel without unsightly openings appearing between the handle assembly and exterior door panel.
Further and other objects of the invention will be realized by those skilled in the art from the following summary of the invention and detailed description thereof.